Wings of Paper - Chapter 23

“You can’t just kill people,” I heard Kenzie scream at me. At least she wasn’t mad at me for killing Hiro - or maybe she was and I was next on her list of enemies. 

“A little help over here,” Alex called out, catching my attention. One of the Dark Warriors was gone but three remained. Sammy and Alex were each one on one, but the other one that had been fighting them was making his way to me. 

I stabbed him before he had a chance to react and he dissolved into light. 

“Thanks,” Sammy yelled to me. “Now go help Sadie before she gets herself killed.” 

I nodded once and turned to find Sadie. Kenzie was standing on a table with Sadie behind her. They were both brandishing swords but Sadie looked exhausted. Three Dark Warrior girls that looked like triplets, each one holding two knives. 

I crept up behind the nearest triplet and jabbed my sword in her arm. She screeched in shock and toppled to the ground. Unfortunately, the light from her death lifted up from her body and flew into my face. 

Temporarily blind, I stumbled away trying to regain my vision. 

I heard a panicked scream that sounded like Sadie. “Luke!” Pain flashed through my head and the ground rushed up to meet me. I groaned and rolled into a ball, trying to protect my throbbing head. 

Someone kicked me in the side and I groaned again. My vision was clearing now and I could see the two remaining triplets fighting off Kenzie and Sadie. Kenzie was holding her own, but Sadie was struggling. The girl was holding her sword with both hands, waving it wildy and nearly smacking Kenzie. 

The second triplet lunged and I stretched out my leg, tripping her. The triplet snarled, spinning around to face me. I scrambled backwards on my hands and feet. The triplet launched at me, teeth bared like fangs. 

And then out of nowhere came a sword. Sadie swung the blade like it was a golf club, neatly slicing across the triplet’s neck. The girl screeched and disappeared in a puff of smoke. 

Sadie was panting, her eyes wild. She collapsed to the ground, her eyes rolling up in her head. Luckily, she didn’t seem injured. It had to be another fit from the Darkness - not that amnesia was any better. 

And with my help Alex and Kenzie had managed to kill both of their Dark Warriors. 

Only Sammy was left and his woman was pressed up against a wall, a sword at her throat. Sammy was snarling at her. 

“Wait,” the woman pleaded, her dark eyes glinting with fear - or was it malicious intent? I couldn’t tell. “You won’t kill me.” 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you,” Sammy threatened, pressing his sword closer to the woman. I definitely didn’t envy her situation - especially with Sammy at the other end of the sword. 

“The portal,” the woman murmured, eyeing the sword wearily. 

“What about it?” Alex asked, stepping forward. 

The woman smiled malevolently. “Oh, you haven’t heard? Early this morning the Darkness finally reached the towers in the elven kingdoms. The portal leading back to Luke’s world was destroyed - and Dee actually visited to make sure there was no way to reform it besides her own magic. You’re trapped here now.” 

Alex met my eyes, her face panicked. I felt bile rising in my throat and my muscles seized up. The portal couldn’t be closed - how else would we get home? 

“Luke, don’t listen to her,” Alex pleaded, but she knew she was lying. 

“I’m not lying,” the woman argued, though she was grinning. “And did I mention Dee found a visitor at the castle too. She was a young girl, maybe ten or eleven? Blonde hair? Said her name was Hailey…” 

The woman dissolved into smoke as Sammy stabbed her. I was frozen on the spot. 

The woman had said there was a visitor named Hailey at the tower. Which meant … no … I couldn’t breathe. 

Hailey had followed Alex and I into this world and now she was going to get herself killed. Dee probably had taken her prisoner as leverage. My own sister in the hands of the most evil person in this world. 

“Luke,” Alex said, meeting my eyes again. 

I passed out. 

“I can’t believe she took Hailey,” I mumbled to myself for the fifteenth time in the past ten minutes. 

I woke up not long after passing out but that didn’t mean I was okay. 

I had no way to get back to my parents now that the portal was closed. Hailey was taken by Dee - possibly being tortured. I had just killed Hiro - and even if it wasn’t Hiro it still looked exactly like him and his spirit had been in there, locked away. 

“We’ll fix this,” Alex murmured reassuringly. 

When I had woken up we decided that it was risky to leave in the rain. Although it was risky to stay at the facility as well we reasoned that shelter and rest was important. We could travel through the night if needed. 

We took up residence in the back corner of the dining hall, none of us feeling safe to split up. I wasn’t feeling my best for a variety of reasons but I stayed with the group anyways. 

Alex was sure to be angry with me but at the moment she was acting quite calm. Kenzie also had reason to hate me and yet she didn’t show it either. Sammy and Sadie were preparing a “special meal”, also known as Sadie needed to remember who we were and was too afraid to ask. Her amnesia was getting worse. 

To be fair, Kenzie wasn’t really speaking with any of us at the moment. And with Sammy and Sadie having a private conversation not far away it left Alex and I to carry the talking. 

Mostly it was me repeating my worries and Alex lying about how to fix them. 

“It’ll all be fine,” Alex promised. “We can worry about finding our way home once the Darkness is gone.” 

“Sure,” I said with a shrug. I wasn’t really feeling anything happy at the moment. 

“Luke, you can’t worry about that now. Remember what I said…” Alex shot a look towards Kenzie. She still hadn’t revealed her theory yet. “Optimism will pay off - you have to be hopeful.” 

I snorted. Hopeful? There was no hope left in this world - the Darkness was spreading like an inkblot. Like a virus. Like shadows as the sun sets. 

The sun was setting all right. Setting on this world never to rise again. 

At that point I was ready to give up. What was the point of fighting a losing battle? There wasn’t any - all I was doing was wearing myself out. 

Sammy rejoined us shortly after, Sadie sitting still and facing the wall not far away. 

“How is she?” Kenzie asked, finally speaking. Her eyes were a bit red and her nose was pink like she’d been crying. I wasn’t going to bring it up - I didn’t want to be punched. 

Sammy shrugged, sending a worried look towards the princess. “She’s forgetting fast - faster than anyone else’s decline. I mean, Kenzie can still function relatively normally. I only get occasional attacks. But Sadie is always forgetting. I’m afraid for her…” his voice trailed off. 

Sadie seemed okay to me but she was still suffering. We all were. 

I was torn between giving up on this entire mission and destroying Dee and making her pay for everything she had done to us. The latter was winning. 

I couldn’t let anymore children like Sadie and Sammy suffer because I was too scared to fight Dee. I kept picturing all of the children that had probably been consumed by the Darkness. They were probably so scared… 

“Tomorrow we set out for as far as we can walk,” I announced. “We’re lagging and there are people dying because of our rest stops. Dee doesn’t deserve time.” 

“Luke is right,” Kenzie added. “I vote that starting tomorrow we travel as far as possible and rest for short periods of time. The Darkness is almost consuming everything and we need to find a cure soon or…” 

She didn’t finish because she didn’t have to. We all looked Sadie’s way. 

Even Sammy seemed to shudder. But finally he nodded. “I agree. Tomorrow we leave at sunrise.” 

“Tomorrow,” Alex said as if settling the matter. “So rest up now - we have a big day ahead of us!”
She didn’t have to remind me. The second my head hit the pillow I sank into dreams. 

The sun was almost entirely gone now, only a pinprick in the sky - maybe a little bigger. I wondered how many days we had left before the entire world would be just Darkness. Dee certainly showed no mercy.

Sadie and Sammy were feeling sick, which wasn’t a good sign. 

Kenzie kept her distance but I could tell that their condition was worrying. Even I couldn’t prevent memories of Hiro’s first death from popping into my head. 

Only Alex seemed unaffected by … well … everything. 

I remembered what Dee had said back when I first fought her. That Alex hated me and this entire world. I sent her a glance, and I could agree that she never really seemed to care about any part of it. 

At the moment she seemed at peace with the world, fearlessly leading us through the forest that the road had passed through. Even with the normal sun the forest would’ve been black. But now the thick canopies let zero light pass through meaning that we were relying on Sadie and Sammy’s light orbs. 

Alex seemed to like this world, at least to me. 

And Dee had said Kenzie felt no emotion but a few days ago she cried until she ran out of tears. If that wasn’t emotion… 

Maybe Dee was wrong about everything. About me. About the Darkness. 

I could still win. I could still destroy the Darkness and maybe find a way home. There had to be a way… 

“Wow…” Alex breathed, interrupting my thoughts. 

“What is it?” I asked immediately, but I already knew the answer. I stopped walking and started staring. 

Before us was a gaping pit of dark, churning color. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the most accurate description. But I wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking at. Steel gates with points at the top stretched outwards as far as the eye could see in a circular pattern. 

“Dee’s castle is surrounded by rings,” Kenzie explained rubbing her temples. “I don’t know how I know so don’t ask - but it’s like I can sense it. There are five rings including her castle, but I can only sense the first one right now. This hole - it’s one of three entrances into the castle, and it’s also the first ring.” 

I turned to stare at Kenzie. It was beyond me how she knew this, but I figured if it helped us get through alive I shouldn’t question it. 

“So we should expect what exactly?” Sammy asked, eyeing the hole suspiciously. 

Kenzie thought for a moment. “I can’t sense what is in the hole but I know it’s the only way through. It’s almost like… no, never mind.” She shook her head like she was clearing her senses. 

“In other words we have to go inside the giant hole of doom,” Alex translated for us. “Sounds like a lovely idea.” 

“We don’t have a choice,” Sadie sighed. “If what all of you say about this Dee person is true it means we need to move. I don’t want the Darkness to consume anything else.” She looked at us as if daring us to disagree. 

As much as the Hole of Doom looked unwelcoming, I knew Sadie was right. We couldn’t stand here forever. 

“Let’s go,” I decided before I could change my mind. “The fence is probably poisoned anyways or something.” I took a hesitant step towards the hole, followed by another. It reminded me of my time in the Darkness. 

There was no turning back now, though. We were so close. 

I delved into the hole of doom, only hoping that I could come back from this journey alive. 

“Sammy, please try to summon the light again,” Alex pleaded. It was the first time I’d heard her scared. 

“I told you already,” Sammy replied bitterly. “The light isn’t here at all. There is literally no light present. It’s part of Dee’s defense, I bet anything on it. Any further in and we’ll probably start to feel disoriented or something.” 

“You guys are making me feel real hopeful right now,” I muttered. 

“So we’re without sight, without senses pretty much, walking straight into what could be a trap based off of Kenzie’s feelings,” Sadie simplified. “Why am I friends with you again?” 

Sammy responded with, “you don’t get a choice anymore,” at the same time as Kenzie mumbled, “it’s not just a feeling.” If we could’ve seen where we were looking we probably would’ve looked at Kenzie. 

“Then what is it,” Sammy sighed, seemingly exhausted. 

“I don’t know but it’s like… I can’t explain it,” Kenzie murmured. “Like … like he’s calling me.” She took off running. 

“Kenzie, wait!” Alex cried as footsteps echoed all around us. It was impossible to tell which direction Kenzie had gone. The dark felt dizzying. I could almost feel the pitter patter of tiny feet creeping up on me. 

“This place is like a giant maze,” Sadie said as if reciting from a script. “Those who enter rarely come out. We’ve been warned.” 

“How do you know?” came Alex’s panicked voice. 

“I found runes on a wall and I felt them with my fingers until my mind translated them,” Sadie replied. 

“Why would anyone leave us clues?” Sammy asked. 

“Where did Kenzie go?” I added, reminding everyone that she had run off. “And where should we go?” 

“It says here that travellers will make it out alive if their intentions are pure. They will hear callings like voices…” her voice trailed off for a moment and when it returned it sounded … different. “Father?” 

“Sadie, your father isn’t here…” Sammy began. But Sadie was gone. 

“The callings,” I breathed. “The voices will lead us through if we’re pure in intention. Backstabbers will be lost forever - though Sadie never said anything about loyalty to Dee versus someone else.” 

“Mother,” Sammy whispered. I knew he was hearing the voices too. He took off running as well, feet hitting the ground hard. 

“Luke, are you still here?” Alex called out after a few minutes. 

“I’m still here, yes,” I answered, unsure of why my own voices weren’t calling for me. Maybe I had to wait until everyone loyal to me had left. 

“Luke?” Alex called again. 

“I’m here,” I repeated, sort of annoyed. Until I realized that my voice was the one she was hearing. My heart felt like it was made of lead. 

Footsteps. I was alone. 

And then a voice like leaves in the wind. It rushed through the air, splitting the darkness like a laser. I couldn’t place the voice. It didn’t have a gender or an age or a race. It seemed … I couldn’t explain it. But it was comforting like a blanket on a winter day. 

It pulled at me, tugging in one direction. Be strong, the voice told me. It will get worse before it gets better.  

“What do you mean?” 

The voice chuckled ominously. These tunnels are designed to lose those who don’t trust their heart and their mind equally - and it will destroy those who are impure or traitors. You will be shown some of your worst fears but I will guide you through it. 

“Who are you?” 

The voice laughed, this time less dark and more … cheerful. As if an emotion such as that could exist in a place like this.  

Loyalty is a matter of trust. Do you trust me? 

“I don’t even know who you are.” 

My identity isn’t the issue. Do you trust me? 

“I mean, you’re promising to lead me through this so I guess I…” 

It’s not a guessing matter. Do you really trust me? 

“I wish I knew who you were-” 

I am your greatest enemy and also your best friend. So I ask again. Do you trust me? 

“I … I trust you,” I stammered at last. I had to trust this mystery voice - even if I had no idea who they were. 

Good, the voice said at last. It’s about time you learned to trust yourself. 

Ah, so the voice was me. It was an odd concept but as long as I kept me safe - you know what, that was too complicated to think about. 

“Let’s go,” I said before I could chicken out. 

The road ahead is not easy, but bear with me, alright. 

As if that was particularly reassuring. But my friends had already ran off into the distance and they would beat me. Not that this was a race, but… 

I didn’t have time to think because my voice left me a trail of sounds and I took off running as hard as I could. The air seemed to grow heavy with every step, harder for me to breathe. 

It wrapped around my neck like a noose. I didn’t think that air was tangible until now. 

It pulled tighter like it was squeezing the life out of me. This would not be a good way to die. I imagined the stories people would tell about me. 

Hey, remember that guy - Luke - who was suffocated with air itself? 

I shook my head, trying to clear my increasingly panicked thoughts. The air was thickening around me. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t live. 

C’mon, we don’t have all day, my voice whispered to me. 

I couldn’t respond. My limbs were seizing up from the lack of oxygen. I could feel my brain slowly giving up. I didn’t want to die, not my magical air mist stuff. 

Just as my vision began to rim red the rope of air began to loosen. It slipped off my neck like an eel and slithered away. I sucked in grateful breaths of air, replenishing my lungs until I felt calm enough to continue. 

“What was that?” I asked Luke, my voice hoarse 

These tunnels are not designed for the faint of heart. You will experience many of your fears brought to life, just as everyone else who passes through here does. It won’t be pleasant, but it is survivable. 

“With how much trauma, though?” I asked more to the actual me than the voice Me. Luke didn’t respond, but I could hear him almost whistling along a passage. 

Being completely blind made the experience ten times worse. I stumbled along on the uneven floor as I attempted to catch my balance. The whistling sound kept me moving quickly into the depths of the tunnels. 

And then I ran straight into something.